Mother’s Day. It’s a beautiful day to give your mommy flowers, a BIG giant card that barely expresses the love and appreciation you have for, eat chocolate, and have a nice breakfast (or whatever your traditions are.)

See that beautiful lady in the blue shirt who is joining in our post-conference happiness of finishing a long week of serving almost 1000 meals? Yep, that’s my mom, and that’s who I am going to tribute today.

Mom, you are my heroine in every sense of the word. I’ve watched other ‘heroines’ on movies, but they just don’t compare to you.

1. Mom, you are compassionate. You are one of the greatest listeners and talkers I know. I still will never forget the time we walked into a store, and the guy at the counter was grumpy. The first thought running through my mind did not assume the best, but you did. You walked up to him, and within 5 minutes, he was crying and sharing the story of the hurt in his heart over several things that happened to his family. I was shocked and humbled. You didn’t brush him off, and you don’t brush anybody off who needs to share their story. You listen. You cry with them, and you are always ready to counsel them with a heartfelt love for the Scriptures and godly, humble advice.

2. My mommy is also one of the most hard working, can do women that I know. If the trailer is broken or it needs new carpet, she orders the new carpet and spends the entire day working on replacing it. She is careful and detailed, and when she takes on a project like replacing carpet, it is with such care and precision that often puts my own ‘do it fast’ mentality to shame. You’ve fixed our appliances, vacuums, tiled, painted, textured, mudded, caulked showers, changed oil, and you are always there to fix and balm the hurting heart of your child, no matter how young or old they are.

3. She is relational. She is always willing to just sit and talk, late in the evening, even though I know that she is a morning person. She gives thoughtful answers. She challenges me to think selflessly, not selfishly, and she tempers my hasty conclusions with her careful and kind words.

4. My mom is also one of the most grateful people I have ever met. She comes into the kitchen every morning with a GIANT smile on her face, and her heart and words radiate gratefulness for the salvation of Jesus Christ, for her children, for her husband, her friends, and her life. This happens, too, when I slink into the kitchen, tired and out of sorts, and my spirit is immediately checked by her beaming rays of thankfulness that shine through the kitchen.

5. Beautiful. Inside and out. Mommy is beautiful. Without makeup, she has a sweet smile, a dark complexion, joyful eyes, and gorgeous black hair that frames her face. She always seems to me like her spirit is getting so much younger. I used to think that 50 was old, when I was young, but not anymore. 😉 (No, I didn’t tell you how old she is.) (I told you how young she is.)

6. Humble. She is a woman who is humble and fears the Lord. She is always ready to quote Scripture and always ready to admit her own faults. She is transparent and open with her struggles, something that has often pierced my spirit to the core, and challenged me to be equally open and willing to confess my own sin.

7. She is also gracious. She is full of grace and truth. She doesn’t jump hastily to conclusions, but she takes time to hear someone out, unlike me, who is ready to pounce with all the speed of a tiger.

8. She is a Proverbs 31 woman inside and out. She is dependable and trustworthy. She is organized and detailed. I’ve learned much from her about keeping a budget, fixing things, scrubbing the mold out of cracks that people wouldn’t notice, keeping the bathroom stocked with toilet paper (seemingly mundane but actually very important), and paying attention to getting water for our house guests.

Really, I could go on and on and on, but this gives you a flavor of how my dearest mother is exemplifying and living out, day to day, the fruits of the Spirit in her life.

Galatians 5:22-23 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”

I <3 <3 <3 you dearest mommy! I’m 21, and you will always be my mommy. You are my best friend, mother, confidant, and fellow sister in Christ. HAPPY Mother’s day!!

Who else wants to eat like a kid again, to enjoy that cookie without that pang of guilt? Smile like a child. Wonder like a child, and learn from the faith of the little child that eats without worry.

As a girl, I can say that we are ENORMOUSLY affected by the eating of peers around us. I’ve become much more sensitive to this in myself and in others when I go to baby showers, bridal showers, or other social meals. Yet, I’ve also learned to listen to the truth of God’s Word in my head about the body and my eating, rather than the lies of the world, and the lies of comparison that want to consume me.

Some of the thoughts that go through my head when in a social situation (not including being with my family) are:

Why can’t I eat that little and stay skinny and not be hungry?

I wonder if she ever eats sugar?

She’s so much healthier than me, but I would be starving if I ate like that.

It’s comparison. It’s really idolatry of what other people, and other peers think of us.

Think about this. What if we went back to eating like we did when we were kids? When you were 5, did you think about how much the other 5 year old was eating and that you shouldn’t eat more than them?

I didn’t. I grew up in a home that was very balanced about food. We weren’t obsessed with health foods or fad diets, but we didn’t consume junk food 24/7 either. We didn’t discuss nutrition, but I followed my parent’s example. It wasn’t until I began being discontent with the body that I had, gazing longingly at the images of girls, whose bodies looked ‘perfect.’ Where did that definition of perfect come from anyways?

Every person is different. Every body is unique.

Stop comparing. You have the appetite, the caloric need, the body you have, because God gave it to you. Psalm 139 says that you are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Let’s go back to our childhood again and learn what it is to eat with gratefulness and not caring what the WORLD says beauty is because what God says beauty is, is SO much more important.

Proverbs 31:30 says, ‘Charm is deceitful. Beauty is vain, but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.’

So, I kinda wanted to share a series, a series on some of the thoughts that go through the heads of girls struggling with eating issues, distorted thoughts and lies that are not true, but hard to put out off our minds.

There are these magazines in stores. They preach a wrong view of beauty. It’s a vanity, a lie about what a woman’s body ‘should’ look like. Women spend their lives dieting their way out of one body into the next, and my heart hurts for them because of all the silly, unrealistic bodily ideals into which they are pressured.

I have been right at that spot along with them. I couldn’t get the images of thin ladies out of my mind, and often my heart even burned in a bit of a jealous way, wanting something that God had not given me, and putting it in the forefront of my desires.

I would think, when I saw those ‘thin ladies’, that I was ‘fat.’

You see, that’s not what matters. God has gifted each women with a unique metabolism, a unique bodily structure, and it isn’t right or beautiful to smash your body into a mold that God didn’t mean it for, instead embracing the curves and the ability that God has given your body to work naturally, function normally, and even have babies, something which is difficult for un-naturally thin women.

These are not thoughts that you go through alone, and I want to tell you, girls, that these are LIES. Don’t listen to the lies.

May this be our prayer. Psalm 86:11, “Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.” May God teach us His way, so we can walk in His truth and so that the lies of the world may fade away in the presence of His AMAZING truth.

The Life of the Writer

I live in the beautiful state of Colorado where 14ers are to give you all the sore legs you need, amazing skiing, plenty of other runners, glorious sunsets, majestic elk herds, and peaceful country roads with clear air.

Go Back in Time!

Go Back in Time!

I am a very ordinary girl. I’m 21, but if you met me, you wouldn’t believe me. I am passionate about girls finding true beauty in Christ. I love peanut butter, icecream, and salad. My hobbies are cooking, baking, sharing laughs and tears with others, and sharing the fullness of joy that Christ has put in me. I love reading other blogs, and I hope that this will be a place where you can find encouragement, recipes, smiles, and joy. Click here to read more about me...